Borders
by Rainbow-Bear
Summary: A warrior base story that includes forbidden love and all that stuff that you know you love to read! I need lots of characters, read my profile if you want to send me one I can use!
1. Prologue

Pilot Chapter

"What do you mean you don't want me going outside yet!?" I hissed at my mother, Dawnstripes. She didn't understand! If it was going to be my clan I needed to know MY territory, where I would be spending MY days protecting! My younger brother didn't share my excitement to be out in the open I guess, he didn't even wake up. I don't know why they took him out like that, or why Dawnstripes was so sad. He was probably just tired…

"Hush! You can't go out; you haven't even opened your eyes yet!"

But boy, had I opened my nose, wherever I was, it reeked! "Where am I?"

"In the nursery, dear, you'll be staying here until you are made into an apprentice."

I could hear her voice trailing off dreamily, like she was hoping that day would come soon… my stomach rumbled, ouch! Hello!? "Dawnstripes, I'm hurt!"

"Oh… you silly kit, you ask so many question but still know so little. You're just hungry, can you smell my milk?"

I took in a deep breath, other than the stench of the retched nursery, there was a sweet smell, my mouth watered and my stomach rolled again, "Yes, I smell it…" I trailed off as I tried to scoot closer to the delicious smell. Sooner than I was expecting, my head ran into a fuzzy barrier, but the smell was closer than ever. "Dawnstripes, I can't, there's something in the way…" I trailed off, my nose finding a small, squishy, damp knob than clung to the smell.

"Sorry, you cant go back in my stomach to feed, my little kit. You have to suckle from the small lump there; you will always find it where the smell is strongest." She finished, but not before I had the chance to finally eat! It tasted so good, rolling down my throat. I could tell Dawnstripes was eyeing me. She still hadn't given me a name, and I wanted one, but I was way too busy eating at the moment!

"Spottedkit…"

I didn't know she was addressing me, but after prodding me and playfully shoving me onto my back, and saying it again, I replied. "Hey! What was that for?"

"That's your name! Don't you like it?"

"Why would you call me Spottedkit? It sounds kind of lame," I protested. What about an awesome name like tigerkit, or lionkit? Or maybe even just something majestic like flowerkit or riverkit. I don't know, I was just expecting something a tad more creative…

"I called you that because of the red spots running across your nose!"

Oh, well now I guess I appreciate it a little more. My name goes with my face, easy to remember! "Thanks." I nuzzled up against her warm stomach and closed my eyes. When are they going to bring my brother back? dawnstripes's stomach started to slowly rise and fall, and her breathing slowed. My brother wasn't here to get his name, does dawnstripes even care?

The next morning I opened my eyes. Everything was bright and hurt my eyes so I closed them again. But wait, where was dawnstripes? I opened a small crack in my eyes so they sting so much, but that didn't help much with the whole seeing thing, so, all or nothing I guess! I opened them wide and blinked rapidly, which seemed to help until everything wasn't too bright. I looked around and saw a small opening. I took a deep breathe and, very wobbly, stood up. At this pace it'll take all day! I might as well just jump around! So that's what I did, jump around. And much to my demise I ran into something big and fluffy and definitely didn't look like it wanted to be ran into…

"What are you doing..?" the soft rumble of dawnstripes's familiar purr seemed to come from this giant mound of dark fuzz. It turned itself over and faced me, looking me in the eyes, then jolting straight up. "Your eyes are open already!? Gingertail told me it was going to take at least two days!" she meowed quite loudly, I wasn't used to any really loud noises and this one was unexpected, so I might have jumped a little, but I don't think mother saw that...

"sorry, want me to keep them closed for another day? I just kind of wanted to go outside…"

"No! no, this is fantastic! Yes, now I can take you outside and you can see mudtail, he's a very special cat, you know. He's the deputy!" She actually seemed generally proud of him, but in my opinion, the medicine cat is the most important person in the clan, without them, everyone would be sick.

dawnstripes licked the fur on my head again that refused to stay down, and reminded me to keep my back straight. I straightened up so much I thought I might fall backwards if a gust of wind swept through the camp, which would've ruined my fur, which dawnstripes tried ever so hard to flatten. We sat outside the warriors den for what seemed to me as an eternity before he finally came out. He was big and muscular, with light brown fur that blended in with the damp earth we stood on. He had dark flecks of fur around his face, which I guess I inherited. dawnstripes looked passionately at him, and he returned the loving gaze which didn't break until I finally stood up and tried my hardest to grab his attention my rubbing gently against his leg. He looked down at me, somewhat surprised that I was there, as if he had forgotten what he had come out for. He then looked around, with a confused look on his face.

"Where is the other one?" he asked, I assumed he meant my brother.

Dawnstripes suddenly looked depressed and looked down, avoiding eye contact with the same tom she, just seconds ago, had a staring contest with. "He didn't make it..."

Mudtail and I both looked at her in horror, he didn't know, and was expecting to raise a tom like him, and I thought I would have someone to grow up with...

"He... didn't make it?" mudtail and I both seemed to mutter.

"No, but at least, Spottedkit did." She looked down at me with hurting eyes, but I knew, somewhere in that greenish blue swirl, there was happiness that I was there with them. And mudtail was happy too. I would make them happy, I promise.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 The Meeting

"Spottedkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Spottedpaw. Your mentor will be Blizzardheart. I hope Blizzardheart passes down all she knows onto you." Hazelstar announced, her head still staring high around the riverclan camp.

My entire clan cheered over my new name, three times exactly. I glanced at Blizzardheart; I would be her first apprentice. I wasn't nervous though, she was a fantastic warrior, and I looked forward to her teaching me all the things she knew. I then searched the crowd of encouraging fluffs for Dawnstripes. She had a proud glow springing from the tips of her ears running all the way down to the end of her tail. I beamed back at her, hoping my dark brown fur hadn't gotten messed up after all my grinning. She had worked on it for ages in the empty nursery to get it to lay flat. She ended up using a damp patch of mud near the corner of the small enclosure that somewhat matched my fur color and stroked it over the worst patches of my fur. The rest she just gave up on.

Blizzardheart bounded up to me, she had sleek gray fur with a white patch the color of a blizzard trailing from the bottom of her throat to the middle of her stomach. She touched her nose to mine and I hoped she couldn't smell the mud.

"I'm glad you'll be my first apprentice." She breathed. Her icy blue eyes trained on mine.

"Thank you, Blizzardheart. I'm looking forward to training with you." I purred. I turned my head and a heard of apprentices that were all larger and older than me bounced towards me, Driftpaw, Webpaw, and Troutpaw. I grinned widely as they surrounded me, congratulating me or urging me to join then in the apprentice den.

"We've already collected bedding for you," Webpaw exclaimed

"But we didn't set it up for you," Driftpaw butted in.

"Yeah, your going to have to do that by yourself," Troutpaw decided to add stubbornly.

Our expedition to the apprentices den was mostly uneventful besides when Webpaw tripped Troutpaw. We all laughed, and after Troutpaw got up he chased her around. Driftpaw and I watched silently with grins spread across our small muzzles. After that detour, we all strutted into the apprentices den. I wasn't dark, but it certainly wasn't bright. The only light that came in was from the entrance and a few small holes poking in through the walls. There were two little nest shaped beds toward the center, and one near the corner. The one clinging to the outside of the den was Troutpaw's so I assumed the two in the center were Driftpaw's and Webpaw's.

"The stuff for your nest is over here," Drift paw bounced toward a small mound of moss, and green weeds. His Fuzzy brown fur shifted from shades of lighter brown to a dark gray. His eyes were an electric green that always followed movement. I gathered my supplies and shifted them closer to Troutpaw's nest.

"Why are you making yours so close to mine?" Troutpaw asked. His fur was bright, it was a bright shade of gray with darker gray flecks forming down his back and following down to the tip of his tail. His eyes were a dark, quizzical brown, always wondering, asking questions, and searching for some unknown knowledge to use to an advantage.

"I just thought yours looked a little lonely over here in the corner." I muttered. If he wanted me to set up my nest somewhere else, I would gladly do it. He could've gone about asking me to go about it in a kinder way.

"No, its fine, you can set up there. Do you want me to help?" Troutpaw asked, his eyes observing me closely, as if trying to find a key. A key that would lead him to know everything abut this strange knew apprentice that wants to be near him, even though he was acting so cruel.

"No, I'm quite capable of setting up myself." If only I was! I had no clue what I was doing, so I shifted a tight ball of moss with my paw.

"Are you sure? Because that ball of moss isn't going to magically make a nest by just playing with it." Webpaw stepped into the conversation, her silver eyes sparkling with amusement. Without an invitation, she started spreading out the comfortably damp weeds, and sealing the top with a cushion of moss. Her white paws carefully made the nest. I could easily see her now, a queen, carefully giving her kits a bath.

"Thank you Webpaw," I gratefully meowed. She seemed like a selfless person, someone I wanted to be around…

"No problem Spottedpaw, no one really expected you to just know how to make your own nest!" she purred. Before I could return the conversation she turned around and stalked out of the den, leaving just Troutpaw and I, assuming that Driftpaw had already left, as he was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

"Who's your mentor anyway?" I turned to Trouutpaw and asked, trying to find a topic for small talk. He opened his mouth, about to answer my question, but just then Blizzardheart popped her head into the den and peered around.

"Ah! Spottedpaw! Lets go I want to show you around!" her eyes gleamed with excitement, and so did mine! I would see the entire riverclan territory, where was the besting spots? Are there any spots I should be careful around for thunderclan cats? I hope she would answer my questions without me having to ask them...

I leaped onto my feet and bounded to the entrance to the den, leaving Troutpaw there, with a quizzical expression falling over his face. What was he wondering about now?

Blizzardheart lead me out of the camp, and around the territory. She showed a couple of different ways to get into camp, and my favorite was the one where she trailed up a hill, leaped off the edge, and onto a tree. She told me this was one she found herself so it was a secret, and I shouldn't tell anyone. From the tree, the branches seemed to intertwine, giving a straight, discreet path to camp. It leads right over the apprentices den, where we had to gently step off the tree and into the camp. The rest were just basic entrances through shrubs and small trails in the mud.

It was relatively close to sundown when we headed into camp for the last time. She let me choose which path I wanted to take. My mind went straight to the trees, I wanted to climb them. I belted off into the direction of the hill and scrambled up the slope ungracefully. Blizzardheart made climbing the muddy hill look so easy. I slipped multiple times before making my way to the peak of the hill. Looking down from the edge, you could see just past riverclan borders and into the thunderclan territory. I wonder what being thunderclan is like. Surely not as fun as being riverclan! I targeted my eyes on the branch of a tree that I wanted to land on. I straddled myself on my small limbs carefully, ready to spring off the edge. I was about to throw my front paws forward and spring off of my back legs when Blizzardheart laid a paw on my shoulder, holding me back.

"Where do you think your going?" she asked, a glint of fun quickly shown in her eyes before being replaced with the responsible look of a warrior that my father so often gave me when I spoke out of turn or said something cruel..

"I'm going to do what you did, jump off the hill and land on the branch." I gave a quite glance at the branch I was planning on landing on so she knew which one I had chosen.

"I should jump onto a branch first, so when you jump, I can be there if you lose your balance." Before asking my opinion on her offer, she leaped off the hill, landing on a sturdy branch. The leaves on the branch danced slightly in delight to have a stranger on their branch, but soon calmed down, giving a welcoming stir only when the wind blew through them.

"Now you can jump without worrying about falling!" she called up to me.

The first time I felt like this would have been easy to do, jumping off the ledge. But the caution Blizzardheart now gave, making sure I didn't fall, or miss my target. My heart was running a million miles a minute, pumping blood to my brain, which fueled it with all the ideas of how I could do this wrong, and end up dieing on my first day of being an apprentice.

"Don't worry! I'll catch you no matter what!" her eyes now trained on me with concern, and her voice rose to reassure me that she was there. I could do this; I could do it with my eyes closed! So I did, I closed my eyes and leaped with my legs outstretched, prepared to land on the branch. For a moment, I was flying. Gusts of wind with the faint smell of the river found their way into my nose and swirled around me, my fur being brushed up by the cool breeze. I imagined myself a small bird soaring over riverclan, experiencing this anytime I want. Would I ever get bored of this wonderful feeling? But alas, it was over; my paws struck a solid object. My eyes flashed open and to keep my legs from braking due to the impact, I bent my knees and lost my balance. Blizzardheart quickly bent down and held me by the scruff of my neck. Once I had regained my balance, she let me go and I stood up straight, looking at her expectantly. I knew I hadn't done well. If she wasn't there I would've fallen off the branch. I knew she would scold me and punish me with chores to do the next day. I braced myself for the storm.

"Well done! That was better then I expected from you!" she exclaimed with a purr of approval rumbling in her throat. Boy was I surprised! A wide grin spread across my muzzle and I pressed my nose into her shoulder affectionately. Her warmth seemed to pulse through and soft vibrating of her purring became stronger and I felt overcome with happiness.

Once Blizzardheart had diverted herself from that affectionate moment and reminded me of the task we had at hand, she directed my gaze to the rocky roof of the apprentices den. She gracefully leapt down and waited for me to join her. I bunched up my muscles. This jump didn't spook me as much as the last one, the landing target was larger and wasn't as far away. I set my eyes on where I estimated I was going to land, and pushed from my hind legs. I again felt the sensation; except the smell of the river was stronger. This feel was more like swimming down a waterfall, hearing waves splash around you and the smell swelling through you. You know you will hit the bottom, and it happens, and you expect yourself ready! But I wasn't, when I finally hit the roof of the den, my knees buckles. I tried to embrace the impact like I did on the branch but I stumbled off of my paws and rolled towards the edge. Blizzardheart made a mad dash towards my stumbling limp body and tried to adjust her jaws around me to stop my rolling. My body tumbled off the edge and I landed right in front of the apprentices den with a very loud "HMPH!". I couldn't exhale. I couldn't breathe. What if I was right and I was going to die on my first day? I tried to calm down but that only made my not-exhaling problem worse. I started wriggling, my stomach was clenching up and the clan cats were gathering around in horror. Blizzardheart ran up and ordered to no one directly, just someone, "Someone bring Amberdrop!". My stomach clenched and knotted and my eyes started blurring. I was tired. I remember seconds ago, thinking of falling down the waterfall. The smell of the river congested my nose, not in a comforting way anymore, in a scary way. I live in riverclan, the river is my home, but the river can also be my grave."

My eyes opened and I was in the medicine cat's den. I took a deep breathe in and out and looked around and saw Amberdrop looking over my body and gently massaging her paws into my flank.

"Amberdrop?" I muttered to the she-cat gently sliding her paws over me. When she heard my voice she flinched, surprised.

"Ah, you're awake!" She trained her eyes on me. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm feeling fine. What happened to me?" I asked. All I could remember was the feeling of drowning, and the overwhelming smell of the river.

"You fell off the roof of the apprentices den and lost your breathe. It's caused by a hard blow and being scared mostly. You passed out, which gave you plenty of time to calm down. Blizzardheart was pretty shaken, you should visit her when you feel well enough to." About halfway through her statement she turned and started glancing over her herb collection. She had very light brown fur, looking a dark shade of orange in the light, with slight flecks of a brighter orangey-brown around her flank. Her eyes were a calm, calculating green, that seemed to have unlimited knowledge.

"May I visit her now?" I asked. I definitely didn't want Blizzardheart to worry about me.

"If you feel that you're up to it Spottedpaw, but I think you should rest a bit." She turned and looked at me over her shoulder. She still had her calm gaze, but now there was concern.

"I will rest, right after I pay Blizzardheart a visit! After that I promise I'll go to my nest and get some rest." I stated. I got up quickly and dashed off before she could protest.

I steadily paced out of the medicine cats den and looked around the camp; the small rock structure was the apprentices den. The large viney crack in the rock that I had just exited was the medicine cats den. The knotted up structure was the nursery that I had just left this morning. I saw Hazelstar slink into the large space between to rock pushed together so I assumed that was the place where the leader stayed, and there was only one last structure left, by the corner of the camp near the river, there was a large knot of rocks and mud pasted together that I assumed was the warriors den. I raced over there, eager to let Blizzardheart know I was okay. I peered into the den and saw a few lumps of fuzz onto my eyes locked onto the light gray fur pile and trotted over to it.

"Blizzardheart," I muttered, making sure not to wake the other warriors, "Blizzardheart it's me, Spottedpaw." She turned over groggily and looked me over in disgust before realizing it was me. Her eyes flew open and she sprang up.

"Spottedpaw, you're alive!" she shouted. One of the warriors gave her a hateful glare before returning back to sleep. "Lets talk outside, okay?" she whispered, her eyes still looking over my small frame, making sure everything looked like it was functioning correctly. After checking me over silently, she turned and led me out of the den.

"I came by to tell you I was okay, Blizzardheart." I said once we were outside the den.

"Are you sure? What did Amberdrop tell you?" she asked quickly.

"She said I had lost my breathe, and I was just scared. I don't understand why she said that though, I'm not scared of anything. Not even dying!" I claimed, even though I remember how afraid I was the moment I couldn't breathe. Blizzardheart grinned and touched her nose to my head.

"That's my little she-cat. Now go get some rest mousebrain, before you trip and stop breathing again." She announced over her shoulder, tracing her earlier steps into the warriors den to go back to sleep I assumed. Then a quick though came into my mind, Blizzardheart had only showed me about half the territory. I wanted to se the entire territory! I looked around; the clearing was mostly empty, a warrior bathing in what was left of the setting sun. I slit passed the sunbathing tom and paced carefully out of the camp. I retraced the steps to the thunderclan border to as far as Blizzardheart had told me and went straight from that point. I heard the sound over the rushing river and smelled the water. Before I knew it, I was at the river that divided to riverclan and thunderclan borders. I looked across the river and looked at the grass, and the tall trees with leafs faintly scattered across the soft-looking land. I laid down, although I had just woken up from passing out what seemed like not too long ago, I guessed the trail here took a little extra energy out of me. My eyes got droopy, and I fell asleep thinking about chasing a squirrel through the trees.

"Hey! Who are you?" I woke up and there was either a big apprentice or a small warrior standing tall at the other side of the river. His dark green eyes fixed on me. "I said, who are you?" he insisted again.

"I, uh, I'm Spottedpaw," I muttered. I was still quite groggy from sleeping.

"SpottedPAW? I thought you were a kit that got out of the den," He shrugged.

"Huh, no way! I'm an apprentice! I got apprenticed just yesterday!" I yelled, more awake now then ever. Why was he picking on me?

"Whatever Spottedkit, Anyway, my name is Sagepaw, I'm from thunderclan!" he lifted his muzzle proudly as he spoke of his clan.

"Well, I'm from riverclan." I tried to lift my head higher than his to show him I was superior. But instead he laughed.

"Pfff, riverclan is a joke. Who would want to swim and eat smelly fish all day anyway?" he retorted, and I definitely did not appreciate that comment. But I wanted to be the better apprentice, so I kept a calm tone, sat down, and said,

"Well, swimming is good exercise to keep our warriors sleek and fit. And fish is not the only food we eat; on occasion we will eat river voles." He seemed somewhat confused about my sudden calm attitude.

"Well that sounds boring, being in thunderclan is much better." He retorted as he stalked away from the riverside. This was the first time I had a chance to see what he looked like without having to say something to him. He had slightly fuzzy, light brown fur with dark brown stripes running down his back. His paws were a clean white color, and as I had said before he had very deep green eyes that I wanted to see again. I turned around, I wanted to go back to camp, but I saw a small yellow flower that I remember Amberdrop running her paws over when I was in her den. I carefully picked the flower and decided it would be nice if I brought this back to her as thanks for taking care of me. I ran the rest of the back to the camp, thinking of Sagepaw. Maybe he'll be there again later.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Not Alone

When I got back to camp I made sure to go through the main entrance so I wouldn't be making any other mistakes with entering into my own camp and embarrassing myself and probably my mentor. I didn't think about it before, but I wonder how Blizzardheart explained when asked how I had fallen off of the roof of the apprentices den. I'd ask her next time I had the chance to talk to her. I walked right into Amberdrop's den and looked around to see if she was in. I didn't see her anywhere in her clearing so I thought id just put the herb away myself. I put down the soft yellow flower down and sniffed it; it had a very sweet smell. I observed her medicine collection and tried to find a herb that fit my description. I started sniffing, which seemed to rule out a few more flowers. I had a choice of two left, one with the similar leaves, and one with the similar petals. The leaves were very soft and carried the same sent as the fresh flower I brought, so I placed it in that pile, hoping it was correct.

I eyed the flower one more time to see if there was another variable to help me with my deciphering without having to taste it. I nodded, satisfied with my choice and turned. With a jolt I realized Amberdrop was sitting in the corner of her den, with her tail neatly tucked over her delicate paws and her fur gleaming in the afternoon light slightly falling in from the entrance. She was observing me which kind of put me on edge, was she watching the whole time? Was she mad at me for snooping in her medicine? But something was different about her eyes, which were usually calm and kind; they now had an urgent sense to them. She opened her mouth slightly and I could see a cold breeze pass from her lips and encircled me. The breeze had a familiar scent, but it was faint next to the stinging cold that filled my nose, murmuring whispers seemed to join the breeze that swept through my every tuft of fur. I shivered and glared at Amberdrop, what was wrong with her? Was she being possessed? If something wanted to mess with my clan, it would have to kill me before it could…

The whispers of the cold wind became stronger and I could make out a few words, moon, sun, and pebble. Amberdrop's eyes turned a cold white, and her jaw dropped open. Multiple voices seemed to be trying to tell me something at the same time, all at different tones and speeds.

"What do you want?" I demanded. "Leave Amberdrop alone or, or I'll make you!" My challenge was week but it seemed to catch the attention of the whispers,

"You will be tested. It will be up to you to make the sun shine brightest when there is only darkness, to make the moon glow vivid enough to lead a much required war, and to inspire the smallest pebble to make a colossal decision . Beware, if you fail these tasks, the balance of the clans will be at risk, and you will be consumed with hatred and madness," the whispers paused, "Swim free while you will, Spottedpaw, before you face the raging current." Amberdrop's entire being seemed to tense, her muscles, her eyes, even the hairs on the tips of her ears seemed to spike up at full attention, she looked like she had just been knocked in the throat and could not breathe. I wanted to help her but I was still frozen from the frigid wind. Amberdrop's eyes returned to their normal color and her mouth seemed to latch shut. She relaxed, and then started breathing heavily.

"What the-"She looked up at me and hummed between her breathes. My muscles were apprehensive and adrenaline was draining from my blood, I had just had a fight or flight moment and I couldn't have chosen to fight or flee, I was frozen in place. I must've looked very stupid because Amberdrop laughed pretty hard after seeing me.

I breathed and relaxed my muscles. Amberdrop was back to normal and so was I. The last sentence of the whispers echoed in my brain, "_Swim free while you will, Spottedpaw, before you face the raging current._"

"Amberdrop are you okay?" I looked up at her with as much concern as I could hold in my body. Her face twisted in confusion.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" she seemed generally confused, like she didn't remember what just happened.

"You're voice got weird and your breath got very cold. You said I should swim free while I could, before I faced the raging current? What did you mean?" I asked. She gasped quietly and returned my look of concern.

"I said that? Was there anything else?"

"Not much that I can remember, but your eyes turned white and it didn't sound like you, it sounded like a whole clan of cats all whispering."

"Spottedpaw, Starclan just delivered you a prophecy through me."

"What? What's a prophecy? What did you mean?" My eyes widened, Starclan had just given me a prophecy, whatever that was…

"Shh, calm down. A prophecy is usually when Starclan has a special message or warning for a certain cat. This is the first time I've ever delivered one."

"It's the first time I've ever been told one!" I exclaimed, which made Amberdrop purr with delight.

"I would assume so," She said. "What were you doing in here in the first place?" She asked. I'm sure it was just her clever excuse to change the subject so I wouldn't ask any more questions.

"I was outside the camp earlier, and I found a flower that I remembered seeing you organize while I was resting in here." I made sure to leave out the part about Sagepaw; she might accuse me of being disloyal to my clan. And then she might tell Hazelstar and that would be one big mess I didn't want to start. I pointed with my tail to the flower that was on the pile of leaves. She looked at me with an impressed stare.

"How did you know it went with the pile of leaves and not the pile with the similar petals as the flower?" she asked.

"It took awhile to figure it out but the smell from the flower matched better with the leaves than with the flower petals." I told her.

"Well, the flower you picked actually belonged in both piles," She smiled at me and began picking the leafs off the flower and letting them drop onto the pile, "The petals are from the flower, but the leaves are the part of the flower that gives off the smell, but it was smart to use your sense of smell as well as your sight, Spottedpaw." She finished her sentence as well as with the leaves, she then plucked the petals off of the flower and let them fall into the pile full of yellow, papery pieces.

She looked at me with cheerful eyes, "I wish I had become your mentor. I could sure use a good apprentice like you." Why was she saying that? I was a warrior; well I would definitely love being a medicine cat. I wouldn't ever have to fight Sagepaw. Wait, why should I care if I fight him? He's from Thunderclan, I don't care about him. Anyways, the medicine cat is the most important role in the clan, and I definitely want to be important to my clan. Except I'm a warrior, and I think that's where I'm needed most.

"What would I do as a medicine cat apprentice?" I asked. If she thinks I should do it, maybe I should consider it. She is the medicine cat, and I should listen to her.

"Well, you'd learn the herbs, how to take care of your clanmates, and your relationship with Starclan will intensify," she said, giving me a hopeful look. I gave it a thought, that sure sounded easier than defending my clan, but easy isn't what I want.

"Sounds great and all, but I'm training to become a warrior… I'll definitely think about it though," I turned toward the exit and walked out.

"Consider it, okay Spottedpaw? If you change your mind I can ask Hazelstar and Blizzardheart if I can mentor you. Just come see me!" she yelled out the large gap leading out of her den.

I quietly slinked out of the now dark camp to the river. The Thunderclan side of the river was just a few tail-lengths in front of me… of course there was a wide river in between it and me, but I could still see it. I looked down at the rushing water of the river, and thought again about the prophecy. Swim free while I will, before I face a raging current. I didn't even know how to swim yet, so I didn't have to worry about it for awhile.

"Huh, fancy seeing you here again," Sagepaw's familiar mew echoed across the shining river.

"Sagepaw? Hi!" I whispered excitedly. I had a feeling I would meet him here!

"What are you doing here? If I wasn't myself you would be in so much trouble right now, looking over to the Thunderclan territory, but its okay, I won't tell anyone," he said as if he was doing me some giant favor. I wasn't too impressed, he was just a little too cocky, and I didn't appreciate it.

"Don't think you're doing me a favor, I haven't done anything wrong." I hissed.

"Oh really? I'm almost positive that you're mentally mapping out our territory so you can ambush us!"

"Why would they trust a brand new apprentice with something as important as that?" I replied, although a lion could not even compare to how courageous I was, a tiger could not compete with how fierce I was, and an elder could not match up to how resourceful I was, I was still just a newly appointed apprentice. Already with a prophecy and a dirty little secret that could turn my clan against me.

Sagepaw gave a defeated moan, and looked at me with an attractively crooked grin on his muzzle.

"So, Spottedpaw, any cute little apprentices in Riverclan I can meet? One apprentice in Thunderclan likes me, and one from Shadowclan. I'd like to finish off the set with Riverclan." I blushed, I wasn't the only one looking over borders, and an apprentice from Shadowclan liked him? Typical, Dawnstripes had told me that Shadowclan was bad news and were traitors by their own blood.

"Why don't you finish off your wretched _set _with a naïve apprentice from Windclan, hm?" I hated him, thinking he could just woo any she-cat apprentice that comes within a fox-length from him, just because he had amazing, shining fur and the greenest eyes-… what was I talking about? Oh yes, my hatred for this cocky little apprentice from Thunderclan. Another reason I hate him is-

"Windclan cats are too skinny for my taste. Riverclan cats on the other hand, are sleek and sensual, and at the same time powerful," he said as he scanned hi gaze of my pelt. I blushed, I didn't like the way he was looking at me, it was like a hawk eyeing its catch before he devoured it. I sat down and made myself as small as I could. He looked at me and frowned with guilt, "I'm sorry Spottedpaw I didn't mean to embarrass you, I was just saying that Riverclan cats are very striking in my opinion."

"Well in my opinion Thunderclan cats are mouse-brained furballs that have no respect for others and think too highly of themselves!" I shouted in one breathe. I didn't really mean in, ever since Dawnstripes told me about Thunderclan, I've wanted to explore their wooded territory and share tongues with the cats and be as proud as them to know that they could easily strike down any cat in a moments notice. I've always secretly wanted to be a Thunderclan cat, just for a day.

Sagepaw's look of guilt was exchanged for a look of utter pain, he was no longer proud, or obnoxious in the cute way only he could be.

"Sagepaw, I'm sorry. I didn't really mean that, I don't think about you or the other Thunderclan cats like that. You just… I know what you said was meant as a compliment but I just didn't feel comfortable with it, I'm really sorry," I mewed quietly over the trickling river. Both of our reflections showed in the river. I envied my reflection, she wasn't bound to one clan, she could go over to Sagepaw's reflection and comfort it, but she didn't, because she was afraid someone would see, and she was afraid he wouldn't except her gratitude that he didn't go off and tell his leader about the tiny little Riverclan apprentice that kept hanging about the border, but most of all she was afraid that he _would _accept her appreciation, and he would appreciate her, and she would get wound up in something that would label her as disloyal, and she was not disloyal. My thoughts were interrupted by a spray of cold water running down from my ear and dripping off of my nose. I smiled up at Sagepaw, who regained his playfully cocky grin and had just splashed me! It was so on; I put my two front paws in the water and bounced them out, sending a fountain of water droplets raining onto the Thunderclan border. Sagepaw tried to maneuver out of the way, but a shower of water drizzled onto him. His dark fur was covered in water; the stars seemed to reflect off of it. I was so preoccupied staring at it, I didn't notice him bounding through the water towards the Riverclan border. His large figure easily knocked me off balance and within mere seconds he had me pinned down on the soft Riverclan grass.

"You aren't aloud to be over her," I trailed off. I couldn't help gazing at those giant green eyes he had. His crooked smile was so- no. not him. Not now. Unfortunately he was just big enough that no matter how much I wriggled, I couldn't get loose. I looked for a way out and noticed a dainty flower hanging low right next to his ear.

"I know, but are you going to tell on me?" he accused with a slight sense of sarcasm in his meow. I gave him the most attractive look I could muster, being that I wasn't experienced in giving seductive looks it probably wasn't very good, and slowly reached behind his ears and grasped the flower in my paw.

"No, I won't tell on you, but you can count on my doing something you wouldn't expect," I said quietly. His eyes flashed with curiosity, and I quickly stuffed the flower into his ear. He bounced back and I rolled out of his reach.

"That was certainly unexpected!" he said while laughed and shaking his head to get any flower debris out of his ear.

"I sure hope I taught you a lesson on staying on your side of the river, furball." I said with victory in my tone. He gave me a playful smile and started on his way back to his side of the river.

"I hope I taught you a lesson on having fun, Spottedpaw! Want o come back tomorrow night?" he asked.

"Sure! I'll see you then!" I shouted across the river. He bounded back to his clan with his tail flying behind him. Fox dung! I wanted to tell him about my prophecy. Oh well, too late to tell him now. I'll tell him tomorrow night.

I walked calmly back to camp, with the moon shining down on all the plant life that accompanied me on my path back to my clan. I peeked into the clan entrance, silent, not a sign of life anywhere. I silently padded my way into the apprentices den and settled into what I think was my nest. I laid down and yawned drowsily, the last thing I remember was Troutpaw's rhythmic breathing and my thoughts that I wasn't alone, the Shadowclan apprentice, the Thunderclan apprentice, and I all had something in common; we all liked Sagepaw.


End file.
